


Ten Days

by Juulna



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A mix of MCU!Pepperony with Modern!Stucky, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bodyguard Bucky Barnes, Bodyguard Steve Rogers, F/M, First Kiss, Getting Together, Kidnapped Tony Stark, Kidnapping, Light Angst, M/M, Marvel Trumps Hate 2019, Multi, PepperStuckony, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24339382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juulna/pseuds/Juulna
Summary: How long does it take for two to fall in love with two?--“She deserves to be loved like this,” Tony murmured for Steve’s ears alone, looking him square in the eye.It was such an odd statement, and yet it made perfect sense to him. He and Bucky had always known they were poly, and it looked like Tony was familiar with the feeling that sometimes overwhelmed Steve when taking in everything Bucky was—the thought that he wanted to share his feelings for Bucky with someone else who knew exactly what it meant to love Bucky, because they loved him too. Someone who knew exactly what it meant to want to share that love with another, letting it bubble up within them until it made them squirm with the desire to touch and love and hold and care for them. To care for your loved one with you, not instead of you, and relishing in the beauty of their love reflected.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Pepper Potts/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 79
Collections: Marvel Polyship Bingo 2020, Marvel Trumps Hate 2019, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Ten Days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RoseRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseRose/gifts), [astudyinsolitude](https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinsolitude/gifts).



> Hiya! Here's my fic for the lovely Rose and astudyinsolitude. They've been so sweet and understanding during this process, so thank you, so much. I've not written this Quad before, but it was honestly such a delight, the more I leaned into it. :)
> 
> This fic fills my **MTH2019 auction** , as mentioned above, but also fills:  
>  **Marvel Polyship Bingo 2020:** Compersion  
>  **Tony Stark Bingo 2020:** Whump

> **_Tony Stark kidnapped— Possible bodyguard connection?_ **
> 
> _On Friday, November 8th, Tony Stark and his wife, Pepper Potts, along with two bodyguards, were seen being limply shoved into an armored vehicle near the Port Authority of New York. There was no sign of the Iron Man suit, and eyewitnesses report that the man in question seemed to be hanging from the arms of two large men dressed in black._
> 
> _There has been some theorizing that the two bodyguards were involved, though this publication refuses to accuse them as conspirators without hard evidence. They were, however, hired only four or five days, maximum, before the Stark-Potts’ disappearance, and further digging by the police, feds, and multiple news agencies has turned up very little as to the identity of these two men. Perhaps that is how their business prefers it._
> 
> _Their backgrounds run similar to many bodyguards to the rich and famous: ex-military—in this case, the SEALs—and in their early thirties, well-built, in this case born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. They were honorably discharged five years ago when their unit was ambushed, betrayed internally by one of their own. One of the bodyguards, James Barnes’ arm had to be amputated, though he now seems to be outfitted with the latest in Stark tech, from what was seen in the few pictures taken of them before they were taken. The other bodyguard, Steve Rogers, the leader of their unit, was broken by the betrayal, some said, and neither of them were able to trust compatriots after the death of their closest friends and military family when Lieutenant Commander Brock Rumlow_ _presumably took a bribe and joined an as of yet unnamed terrorist organization. There has been much speculation about the identity of said terrorist organization, ranging from Hydra to Al Qaeda, but there has been no official confirmation. None that the masses know, at least._
> 
> _Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes were discharged together weeks after the investigation’s report was officially submitted in 2009, a year after the aforementioned incident. Just days later, they were married in a small ceremony near Ottawa, Canada, and then returned to Brooklyn to live in the home they share with three unnamed friends. The both of them adopted a dog in 2010, though that is more of note to myself, an animal lover, than it is of any practical use as knowledge._
> 
> _After that, there is very little that can count as a paper trail._
> 
> _It is, perhaps, that very lack of a paper trail that has Americans—no, the entire_ world _—speculating that they might possibly have been involved. Though the betrayal in 2008 was unquestionably that of former Lt. Commander Rumlow, there was some lingering suspicion that there were further moles, spies, traitors, or what-have-you within the military. The kidnapping eight days ago has renewed interest in the hunt for further spies, and the internet is alight with speculation._
> 
> _One theory that yours truly is rather fond of, is the one that suggests Rumlow—who has only been glimpsed briefly a handful of times in the following five years—decided to combine revenge on Cpt. Rogers and Sgt. Barnes with business. Though there was no sign of Rumlow himself, one of the witnesses took photos of the kidnapping… and one of the men bears a remarkable resemblance to a compatriot of Rumlow, a marine who defected days after the 2008 incident: former Lieutenant Jack Rollins. The FBI has not confirmed the identity of the man in question, but civilian-accessible facial recognition software suggests a positive match._
> 
> _There have been many attempts on Mr. Stark’s life over the years, and many more kidnapping attempts, both successful and unsuccessful—successful in that they managed to capture the man, though there has never been a case of the kidnappers receiving what they wanted. The most infamous of the examples is the one in 2008, when Mr. Stark was captured and held for three months by the Ten Rings organization. They were never seen alive again—the captors, that is._
> 
> _Needless to say, they did not get what they wanted._
> 
> _Since then, there have been seven separate kidnapping attempts, and two assassination attempts. It appears that Mr. Stark has something that the world’s evilest men covet, and only two things come to mind: the miniature arc reactor embedded in his chest, and the knowledge embedded in his mind._
> 
> _So yes, it is my opinion that while there is_ **some** _element of connection to Mr. Barnes and Mr. Rogers, the main reason for the kidnapping is that of simple_ **greed** _._
> 
> _There has been no sign, and no word whatsoever on the condition of Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts, or their bodyguards. And I believe that there won’t be—for why demand ransom for a man who a) has never once been ransomed in his life despite the many ‘successful’ kidnappings, and b) holds all the knowledge and richness you could want in his mind and body?_
> 
> _For further coverage on the Stark kidnapping, please check out the links below._
> 
> _If you have any tips, please phone the FBI tip line at 1-888-555-7328._
> 
> **— F.T. Baine, forthetruth.ca** **  
> ****November 16th, 2014**

* * *

* * *

Steve growled and slammed his fist against the stone wall to the left of the cell bars he’d been just a moment too late to stop from slamming closed. He stood there, breathing in deeply, eyes closed and forehead pressed against the cold stone, trying to gather the loose threads of his control as the guard’s laughter rang in his ears.

“Steve,” Pepper called out, voice soft. “Come sit with me.”

He’d only known Pepper personally—outside of her public persona, one that was known to practically the whole world as CEO of the world’s largest weapon’s production company turned world’s largest energy production company—for ten days, _four_ if you counted his days actually guarding her person, not kidnapped and in a cell, and yet he already knew not to mess around with that tone of voice.

Not that he wouldn’t _argue_ with her. He just… knew when to pick his battles.

Smart man, Bucky had said.

He turned slowly, away from the only way in and out of this place, and glanced at his husband and partner, heart feeling even just the littlest bit lighter at the sight of the man, no matter how creased and dirty they might all be.

Bucky gave him a small smile in return, but it was strained, and Steve finally realized that Tony… fuck, Tony looked worse than he ever had when previously thrown back into their shared cell. He was barely able to hold himself upright, even when propped up on either side by Pepper and Bucky alike, even with the cold stone at his back. He didn’t even bother to try to keep his eyes open, muttering lowly to Pepper instead—words of intimacy and reassurance Bucky and Steve both pretended to ignore, but which neither of the other two tried too hard to hide—and his normally light complexion was trending towards the sickly, the exhausted, the beaten.

But not the broken. Not Tony, not him.

Steve might have believed that of Mr. Stark, the man he’d never known outside of files until ten days ago, the man he’d assumed Tony to be until six days ago, when they’d been attacked a bare block from the security of Tony and Pepper’s home and thrown in… here, wherever _here_ was… together. On that day, he’d realized that the Mr. Stark he’d imagined had been a mixture of many things—his checkered past, his father’s reputation, public perception, scandal, and Steve’s own… righteousness, he supposed, was as good a word as any. He may as well admit it.

But Tony was… _Tony_.

He knew the difference now.

Steve crawled carefully over the tangle of legs, placing himself carefully in front of Tony and pressing his hands to the smaller man’s cheeks.

There had been barely anything other than the four of them for the past six days; there was no space for anything other than casual intimacy between them. It had been necessary.

It had been _welcome_.

Captivity could forge many bonds, but that did not mean they weren’t _false_ bonds.

“Tony, hey, can you look at me?” Steve asked, as calmly as he could. Out of all of them, he had the most training in medicine. Though not quite a doctor, he’d functioned as his unit’s commander and back-up medic both in Afghanistan, and he drew on both aspects of himself—commander and healer—as Tony turned his attention to him.

Despite the exhaustion and pain in Tony’s eyes, they were still as bright and intelligent as ever. “No, Steve, it hurts too much to look upon your hideousness,” the slightly older man said sarcastically, before wincing as he tried to roll his eyes.

Steve couldn’t help it: he grinned. “You deserved that,” he declared, but not without compassion, as he reached out with both hands to steady Tony’s face between them. Long years of training provided him with the balance to do so, legs straddling one of Bucky’s thighs—at least, he _thought_ it was Bucky’s.

“He did,” Pepper agreed with a hint of fond reprimand. Her voice and gaze were strong, but at this point he knew her so well that he could detect the quaver in both as she looked at him, silently inquiring as to her husband’s state.

He shifted his attention back to Tony, away from Pepper’s eyes—he’d gotten lost in them a few times, just a few shades darker than his Bucky’s, softer and harder both—and gave the other man as thorough an examination as he could.

Despite being weak, bruised, and beaten down worse than they’d ever seen him before, Tony still hated to be fussed over, especially by doctors.

Except— 

“Tony, wait…” Steve began, large hands spreading open the newly-singed edges of Tony’s shirt, chasing the sight of burned and clearly-aching flesh, the bright, crisp blue light of his arc reactor nearly hiding and distracting Steve from the new injuries gracing the man he’d been hired to protect.

Tony knocked his hands away and pulled the edges of his shirt closed. “I’ll be fine, Steve,” the stubborn man said— _very_ stubbornly.

Steve sighed. He knew—sort of, at least—when to pick his battles. Especially with _this_ man.

He was right, to a certain extent, though. Whatever it was they were doing to Tony out there, they hadn’t figured out how to deactivate the autodestruct on the reactor Tony had built into it. If it was removed without the correct sequence, it would become a melted pile of goo, useless to anyone. Including Tony. He would die without it, and their captors would obviously rather have _both_ prizes, if they were putting this much effort into it. 

He glanced down at Tony, the man’s face bare inches away from him displaying tired stubbornness that seemed to be getting stronger every day; both the stubbornness and the tiredness. “You’ll live,” Steve announced with a wry twist of his lips. Pepper met his gaze and rolled her eyes.

Bucky took the opportunity to speak up finally, having let Steve do his version of mothering, leaving the field wide open for him to do his own. “Good, that means you can eat.” He shoved the hard bread and cheese into Tony’s hands, already torn into bite-sized pieces—they’d learned through trial and error the best way to get the idiot genius to take care of himself.

Tony looked with pleading eyes towards his wife and then, when that didn’t work, towards Steve.

“Nope, don’t look at me. I had to put up with his mothering for years, so you can put up with it for a few days.” Steve grinned at the other man, who could only pout, and then leaned slightly to the side so that he could brush his lips over Bucky’s in a brief display of his love and gratitude towards his husband.

Neither of them missed the way that the other couple shivered, and he held the position over all three of them before finally letting Bucky’s lips go and settling in on Bucky’s other side.

* * *

Tony had learned, a long time ago, how to wake up without making a sound, especially when he was in danger. It was like a separate level of consciousness he could roll out; the ‘sleep with one eye open’ equivalent of coping mechanisms that one had to learn when at any moment your home could become your torture chamber. 

But when he opened his eyes, he found himself relaxing—at least partially, he was all too aware of the danger he was in—at the sight that greeted him.

Tony had the only blanket, to be shared between the four of them, wrapped around his shoulders, his head resting on part of the ratty flanel to keep him from the cold. Someone had obviously wrapped him up with great care and gentleness, something that he’d only come to know after meeting Pepper.

His Pepper, who deserved all the love and care and gentleness in return, even when Tony couldn’t give it to her himself. He’d long since moved past feeling like he didn’t deserve his Pepper, one of the best of any woman—or any man, at that—he’d ever known, and had instead moved into the comfortable security of someone who knew he’d found his soulmate, and that she’d found _him_ . That she had _chosen_ him. She was a gift, and one he refused to ever squander again. She deserved the _world_. He felt warmth suffuse him from the inside as he took in the sight of Pepper curled up between the two ex-soldiers turned bodyguards turned… friends? Something… something he didn’t quite want to put a name to. Not yet. 

Not in here—he refused to sully what they had with any further darkness. And it _was_ something.

But if he couldn’t be there for her, if he was to die here, he wanted Pepper to be taken care of. And, when she could be extracted from here, protected by their bodyguards, Pepper could take care of them in the aftermath, and bring all the power of their world to bear into finding their captors—and his killer.

He would most likely die here. They were ruthless, worse even than the Ten Rings, worse than anyone he’d seen except in ghost stories, and they were only interested in the technology embedded in his chest and the knowledge embedded in his brain.

Plus, he’d seen their true captors’ faces; they wouldn’t leave him alive, having seen them. Not these hardened criminals. Sociopaths and their sycophants, the lot of them.

Tony wasn’t going to go down without a fight—in fact he planned to take as many of them with him as soon as he could be assured of the other’s escape—but he found himself lingering on small moments he wouldn’t normally try to memorize every detail of, like a starving man at a feast.

Bucky had his back to the wall, across the short span of the cell they shared—not counting the small ‘private’ area that had been walled in at a later time—on his side with his legs and arms curled around Pepper, who, even in sleep, was still shivering from the cold. Tony knew firsthand how warm those two men were and yet, despite the fact that Pepper had Steve’s back pressed against her front, she was still cold.

Each day they seemed to feel the cold that much more. 

Pepper was being cared for as best she could be, given the circumstances, but who was going to care for Steve and Bucky? He… he _cared_ for them. There was that _something_ there between the four of them, and Tony desperately wanted to protect all of them. If he couldn’t have it, he wanted to be assured that _they_ would. That Pepper _knew_ he was okay with them… loving her.

Apparently he couldn’t help putting a name to it after all.

Tony crawled—painfully and coldly—towards the huddled trio, without even thinking about it. He’d fought the closeness for a day or two at first, but circumstances had led to him being drawn like iron fillings towards a magnet, and he now craved the kind touch of these other people in this cold, dark landscape.

Where there had been one in his heart for years, there was now a new space being etched into it for two more, and he was helpless before its power.

He gently—knowing one wrong move could and would wake the long-haired brunet, who still had night terrors, they’d quickly learned upon confinement—placed his blanket lengthwise over the legs of all four of them, curling himself into Steve’s chest in just as careful a manner… and proceeded to fall asleep once again.

* * *

When he and Steve had taken this job, this _mission_ , they’d known Tony Stark was in danger. It was Bucky and Steve’s job to protect the man and his wife in person while Natasha and Clint had protected them all from a distance—or so the plan had been. The rest of SHIELD was supposed to be finding out _who_ it was who was after the man, minimizing and then exterminating the risk without a soul knowing, especially Tony and Pepper.

But of course it’d all gone tit’s up, as Dame Peggy had been so fond of saying.

Bucky and Steve hadn’t been there to find out company secrets, as Fury had once controversially attempted somewhat successfully with Natasha and Coulson years ago. Instead it was honest to goodness bodyguard work, stuff they’d actually done for much more mundane purposes in the previous months and years, with a side of _extra_ protection and a whole team working to ferret out the source of the increased threats and kidnapping attempts of the last few months.

Iron Man could protect himself, but there were times when even he was more vulnerable to threats. They were there to fill in the gaps in situations just like this, when they neutralized Tony’s ability to summon his suit, to buy SHIELD time to dig, dig, _dig_ deep and pry the threat from out of the shadows.

Fat lot of good they’d done, though. Tony had been immediately overpowered with a paralyzing device that had made Pepper look like she was going to cry for the first time _ever_ while holding Tony’s recovering, panicking body in her arms, tight against her body in the cell they were thrown into. There were tears, but there was also _vengeance_ , and Bucky and Steve had their first _true_ glimpse of the real power behind the throne.

There had been too many of them, and it had been planned too well. They had help on the inside, _somewhere_ , Steve had sworn when they’d woken up from their drug-induced naptime. They just had to get out of here, or find some way to get what information they knew _out_ … but they hadn’t been able to. They’d been over every inch of the medium-sized cell, and there was nothing, and the guards ignored their attempts to overpower them in the most efficient way possible: by ignoring _them_ as much as possible, standing cool and professional at the ends of the hall, refusing to come near except when necessary, and always in force. To drop off sustenance that barely qualified as such, and to take away Tony, and then to drop off the beaten and tortured man—so _strong_ , so powerful, that man was, and Bucky’s heart ached more with each consecutive day. 

But their captors—Tony had only caught a few hints as to their identity, but they were _smart_ ; _too_ smart—left Bucky and Steve and Pepper alone. 

Bucky had thought about that often: why they hadn’t killed him and Steve. To their captors, they were nothing more than expendable bodyguards, nothing more than meat shields. Pretty much. Sure, he and Steve _weren’t_ just bodyguards, but it’s not like their captors knew that. 

And neither did Pepper and Tony. 

_God_ , those two. 

They’d just… the bitter analytical part of him, twisted by his own captors years ago, kept trying to tell him it was just the stress and the forced close quarters. The forced intimacy of the circumstances. But the part of him that’d snatched Steve up nearly from the moment they first met kept whispering to him: _this electric connection is_ **_real._ **

Fucking hell. 

He ran the fingers of his metal prosthetic through Pepper’s hair, relishing in the tactile sensors that the latest in Stark Medical’s research had been able to provide. Despite the darkness and the grease and dirt further darkening her hair, he loved the color of her hair; fiery in a way that was somehow even more majestic than Nat’s. It was captivating. 

Bucky froze for just a moment when he lifted his eyes and realized that Tony was awake and watching him, letting the moment drag on and on as their gazes caught and held. 

Tony. 

Jesus Christ, that man alone would end up killing him. 

Luckily there were three of them to deal with Tony. Well, and three of them to deal with Steve when he turned mule, and three to deal with Pepper when she overworked herself even while chastising Tony for the same, and three to even deal with him when the darkness threatened to overwhelm him.

He liked the thought of that. They’d all been through one form or another of needing to be handled in the last six goddamn days they’d been here, and it felt… comfortable, comforting, _peaceful_ , in a way that shouldn’t have a spot in a dark place such as this and yet _did_ , making everything that much easier to bear. 

Unlike that first time he’d been held, alone and barely alive over half the time, and—

“Bucky?” 

He blinked, left hand reaching up to catch the fingers which had pushed back some of his hair. They were Tony’s, and they were warm, having obviously been tucked between his body and Steve’s for the duration of his sleep. Bucky clutched it for a handful of seconds more, bringing the fingers of Tony’s hand over the stubble on his jaw, shivering just slightly at the touch he craved before regretfully releasing it back to Tony’s control. 

“I’m okay,” he replied huskily, voice dry from sleep and lack of water. 

He was saved from having to take in another second of Tony’s knowing look by both Steve and Pepper stirring at the sound of their voices, and the feel of their voices rumbling through their closely pressed bodies. 

Before long, after rising to their feet and brushing themselves off, taking care of what morning ablutions they were limited to within their cell, they were all sitting propped up against the wall, stomachs letting out faint rumbles as their minds caught up to the needs of their bodies.

Bucky watched as Steve drew Tony towards him and then onto his lap—something they’d all done with everyone else by this point—and caught his husband’s eye, a smile lighting his lips and approval in his eyes.

A little bit of light in the darkness. It made things infinitely better than his last cell.

* * *

They’d taken Tony again.

So many times he’d been taken away from her, so many times he’d suffered. But he always came back. Each time would change him, it always did—it wasn’t… good, per se, but his strength shone through, shone brighter, each and every time. He would get prickly with her if she ever said it aloud (again, at least, once was enough of _that_ look, that _pained_ look he got on his face when…) but it reminded her of what Howard had always tried to drill into him, the secret words that she only ever heard whispered in the back of her mind—more often than not in that bastard Stane’s voice:

_Stark men are made of iron._

They were; at least, hers was.

Hers, and…

Both men at her side pressed against her from either side, shoulder to shoulder where they always stood at the bars for as long as they could handle or until Tony came back. Each and every time they had done this, and sometimes Pepper even outlasted the men in her stubbornness to stand watch, to wait for her husband to come back to her, just one more time. And then the next, and the next… 

Sooner or later, their luck would run out. One day, he might not come home. Once, she had thought that was too much to bear; that she would rather watch on the sidelines than have a front row center seat for the tragedy her life might one day become. But she realized, before too long, that the ache inside of her was only becoming greater with every passing day without him.

She’d made him work for it, of course, but they had reconciled their love, their lives, their beliefs, and their morals, compromising where they could, and getting outside arbitration to settle other matters where applicable.

 _Always my CEO_ , Tony had whispered to her one night when she’d explained a truth about herself that he’d never known, but she had always recognized in him. _Always with the pro and con tables, the spreadsheets, the graphs, the beautiful intro and conclusion… Truly stellar work, love, for something I figured out long ago. So much heart, so much love to give…_

Pepper swallowed thickly, clamping down immediately on the tears which threatened to well up.

She’d take care of them, Tony. Of course she would. The men who had wormed their way into both their hearts in ten days. 

Sometimes it seemed like they were just along for the ride as their hearts steered them in the direction they were being pulled. 

The ground shook beneath their feet, and all three of them shot their hands out to catch themselves on the bars. 

The ground shook again, this time harder, and dust started to shake loose from the ceiling tiles. But underneath the grinding of stone and metal, there was—

“Rhodey,” Pepper breathed, a smile swiftly taking over her face. She turned to Steve, then flicked her eyes over to Bucky before peering outside the bars again, despite knowing she’d not be able to see anything.

 _Yet_.

“That frequency, that specific one, it’s Rhodey’s. Colonel Rhodes. I’d recognize it anywhere; I’ve heard Tony fine-tuning that suit enough times over the years.” She turned to the other two with a grin on her face, leaning back against the bars, feeling adrenaline flooding her system with every beat of her heart.

Another shake, though it was smaller, was accompanied by the sound of those shoulder-mounted rockets she’d always taken a shine to. They meant safety to her, and she hadn’t known exactly how _much_ it would feel like home to hear them again.

A thumb brushed an errant tear off her face, and Pepper looked up, startled, just in time to catch Bucky’s hand as he started to draw it back. Tucking herself against him in a way that felt nearly as good—but in a _different_ way—as it did to tuck herself against Tony, she narrowed her eyes at the corridor in front of her. Steve didn’t even need to be asked to move in closer.

“Not sure what good we’ll do to protect you against a roof collapsing on top of you Ms. Potts, but we’ll certainly try,” Steve teased, his voice light as it drifted into the sudden silence.

Then, almost simultaneously, the guard to the left of their cell and the guard to their right, _just_ barely visible if they looked the right way, tumbled back, electricity crackling loudly and bodies _thumping_ to the ground.

Immobile.

Or dead.

Pepper couldn’t bring herself to care, and _that_ was actually a surprise. She hadn’t felt that vicious need for revenge that had so filled her after Afghanistan, the need to lash out and kill and break everything that had claimed part of her Tony. Too bad they’d all been dead by then.

If these weren’t dead, she’d harry them to the ends of the Earth, see if she didn’t. All of them, the whole lot, everyone who tried to claim— 

“Steve, Bucky,” a voice announced as one of the attackers walked towards them. A woman’s voice. One Pepper recognized. “You were supposed to buy us a _little_ more time than, what, four days?”

The perfectly sculpted brow was just the same as it had been the last time she’d seen it. A blond man with a bow slung over his back stood by Natasha Romanov’s side, swinging their cell door keys around his finger.

Bucky rolled his eyes and struck out with a carefully calculated move, pulling the keys off of the man’s finger before the other could even try to stop him. “Clint, stop being a goddamn tease,” he growled—rather good-naturedly, actually, and Pepper was pleased that she could tell the difference—at the blond. Clint, he’d said. “We could do with getting out of this damn place, not you dangling our freedom in front of our very eyes. You know how nasty my hair feels?” He paused, twisting the key in the lock until the door popped open. "Actually," Bucky added with a tilt of his head, "either of you have a hair elastic?"

Steve’s lips twitched, but he was eyeing Pepper, as if wondering if she’d caught on to what Natasha had said. Of course she had, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. Not yet.

First, she needed her husband, then a shower, a clean night-slip, and just…

One thing at a time.

Pepper took a steadying breath and arranged her ponytail into something approaching good order as she stepped out of the cell door Bucky was holding open for her. Steve, at her back, was a steadying presence.

“Natasha,” she greeted the other woman. “It’s been a while. But we can catch up some other time. Say…” And here Pepper dug into that well of forgiveness Tony and she had worked themselves towards. She respected the woman, despite everything. Respected her strength and dedication and her protectiveness towards her adopted country and its citizens, not just those who held her leash. So they had learned from Peggy. “Coffee sometime, yes?” she asked, holding the woman’s eyes for a moment as she extended the olive branch.

Natasha’s eyes searched hers, just for a handful of seconds, but apparently found what she was looking for, letting the corner of her mouth lift in a small half-smile. “I’d like that. Yes.” 

“But first, the man called Clint cut in, let’s go rescue Mr. Stark from Colonel Rhodes’ rather strong and tight grip. Not quite sure if he’s ever gonna let go.”

Pepper smiled softly at proof that her husband was alive, shoulders sagging with relief and tension flying away. “No, it might be some time yet,” she agreed.

“Who are they?” Steve finally asked, just as Pepper knew he would. He’d been waiting for word on Tony first, she knew, and it filled her with warmth that he wanted to know how Tony was, first and foremost. She supposed that since it was his job, but… no. No, she hadn’t imagined any of the last six days. The last ten.

“Who _were_ they, more like it,” Clint replied.

“Hydra,” Natasha answered evenly. “And guess who’s with them?”

Steve and Bucky growled, and then they were all off like a shot in the direction they’d heard Rhodey make his entrance from.

They didn’t even try to suggest bringing Pepper somewhere safer—wherever _that_ might be.

Good.

* * *

When they finally stumbled out of the elevator doors and into the entrance hall of the penthouse, it was as if all of their defenses crashed to the ground. They stood there, two facing two, for what could honestly be called more than two minutes.

But it wasn’t uncomfortable. Not in the least. Well, besides their screaming tired and sore bodies, though Steve was pretty sure all of them except Pepper—and maybe even then, considering who her husband was—had suffered worse and shrugged it off.

It didn’t mean they had to this time, especially with the way his hands were twitching with the desire to… to… he wasn’t sure exactly, but he wanted to _do_ something, anything, to assuage himself that they were okay.

There was one little obstacle in the way, however.

“Look, um, we’re sorry we didn’t let you know we were with—” Bucky began, as if reading Steve’s mind, but was cut off by a snort of laughter from Tony and an eyebrow raise and big smile from Pepper.

“What, you didn’t think I’d let you near me without knowing exactly who you were, did you?” Tony said into the wide-eyed silence with a smirk, beautiful laughter still threading through his words. “Steve. Bucky. I’ve known you were SHIELD from the start. Hell, it was Aunt Peggy’s idea in the first place, and she was the one who came to Pepper, and she to me, about involving SHIELD. I mean, it took a little convincing after our little spider basically industrial espionaged me or whatever you wanna call it, but I still approved it in the end.” Steve and Bucky both winced but Tony breezed right over that with an easy roll of the eyes. “So no, Steve, I don’t mind. In fact, I should be the one apologizing to you, because I let you believe that I didn’t know you—”

“Tony, shut up,” Pepper interjected with a roll of her own eyes. Goodness, those two were so alike sometimes, Steve didn’t know who got their mannerisms from whom. Either way, she sounded—and looked—happy, despite the dirt and grime still covering her formerly _very_ expensive clothing.

Steve was nearly overcome in that moment by the desire to strip her and pull her into the shower with him so that he could wipe every last trace of their experience off of her. He wanted to strip her, pull her into the shower, and do all sorts of wicked things he hadn’t done in _far_ too long, like burying his tongue in— 

“We should get you cleaned up,” Steve blurted out. Then he blushed. Everywhere. He felt his skin heating and reddening from the top of his head to the tips of his toes and fingers. Oh god, he’d never been good at talking to women. It had nothing to do with him being _interested_ , because he talked to men just fine even when he found them attractive, but women… Yikes.

Bucky groaned and slapped his hand over his eyes, shaking his head from side to side and choking down a cackle.

Pepper and Tony, though, had this _look_ in their eyes as they first locked eyes with each other, and then simultaneously turned the full force and power of their gazes upon him and Bucky both.

“Come,” Pepper murmured softly, though firmly, as she held out her hand, palm up. 

They just stared at her, uncomprehendingly, mouths snapping closed.

Tony sighed. “We’re already here at the Tower, the two of you are practically wilting where you stand, we _all_ know that you’re going to worry about us if you leave, just like we would worry about you, especially me because I practically had a panic attack when they first separated us so you could give your report.” Steve looked at him sharply, but the other man just bowled right over the unspoken chastisement at not having _told_ Steve. “I want you here, but I don’t want to _keep_ you here. But we _both_ think that you deserve to know that I, _we_ , can’t stand the thought of you leaving. That I want to touch you and hold you just like we did for the last week. That I want to hear your voices, that I want to _see_ you when I wake up in the middle of the night with a nightmare or with the sunlight streaming across the bed after a full night’s sleep with _you_ . I— _we_ want you here. We want you. If…” And here Tony’s words failed him, his confidence finally showing itself to be the partial mask it was.

Pepper cupped her other hand over Tony’s cheek, but continued to hold her left out towards Steve and Bucky. “We don’t want you to think that we’re holding your jobs over your heads in return for…” Her lips twisted in disgust. “In return for just sex. We don’t want that. But if you feel like that, we can figure something out. If you want to part ways with us, we’ll pay out your contract in full with a 50% gain on top of that and references. If you want to get out of government hands, that can be useful. Or… I don’t know, I just…” Pepper stumbled just a little, but recovered and met both of their eyes. “There are so many options, but we want you here. We know that much. Everything you are, everything you bring, makes us want to fight to keep you, however that is. But we don’t want to take advantage, and we don’t want to hide this.”

All Steve could do was stare at her, not quite comprehending what he was hearing.

It was _everything_ he and Bucky had whispered about to each other in the darkness of their shared cell. It was _nothing_ that they’d ever expected to want in life, despite some pre-existing polyamorous tendencies and desires, but then Tony and Pepper had rocketed right into their lives and burrowed into their hearts and souls.

In a little more than ten days.

“The silence is a little discon—”

Bucky interrupted Tony by striding forward, pulling Tony into his body with his beautiful Stark Tech arm, his fingers curling around the man’s hip, and reaching out with his right hand to bury his fingers into Pepper’s hair so that he could slant his lips over hers.

Steve watched Tony watch Bucky with awe. He watched Pepper’s own eyes widen with awe before fluttering closed and returning the kiss with everything she had left in her.

Holy _fuck_.

A choked whine came from Tony’s throat, and Bucky, hearing this, pulled away from Pepper with a gasp, and swallowed the beautiful noise Tony was still making, which turned into a groan as Bucky pulled away just far enough to set his lips on the pulse point in Tony’s neck.

“Does that mean yes?” Pepper asked breathlessly, though her eyes told Steve that she was still in control.

It sent a shiver down his spine.

Steve stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, away from Bucky’s hold, and wrapped them low around her back. He pressed his forehead against hers. Without her heels, she was just the slightest bit shorter than him, and he found that far more thrilling than he expected to. Bucky was the exact same height as Steve, though his boots often left him standing an inch taller than Steve. So this… _mmm_ it was nice.

“You’re beautiful, Pepper,” Steve murmured against her cheek. Both of their breaths smelled like mint, toothbrushing having been one of the first things that everyone had wanted to do upon their rescue.

She smiled softly. “Flatterer.” Humming, she lifted her arms and threaded both of her hands into his slightly too long hair. 

“Yes,” Steve said, though he let himself relish in the soft sounds of Bucky rather thoroughly expressing his feelings. 

_Their_ feelings. 

It was so sudden, he knew. Bucky and he had whispered about it, but… “Yes, to all of that. I know, we know, that this is so sudden, that there’s extraordinary circumstances but we… Pepper, gorgeous, it might not be love, we can debate that ‘til the cows come home, but it has the _potential_ to be, and that was enough for Bucky and I when we met, and it was beautiful. It was wonderful. And I think _this_ can be that kind of wonderful.”

Bucky came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. Steve leaned into it, pulling Pepper along with him, her eyes widening slightly. Steve sensed Tony leaning into Pepper a moment before his shoulder pressed against hers, and Steve’s as a result. “Steve and I talked about it,” Bucky’s voice rumbled against Steve’s back. “Yeah, it’s soon, but just…”

“Come to bed,” Pepper half commanded, half requested. “Just to sleep for now; I know we’re all tired.”

“I don’t know if I _can_ sleep,” Bucky admitted. He hesitated for a second, then added, “I worry that if I close my eyes you’ll disappear or die or just…”

“Shhh,” Pepper soothed, taking one of her hands from Steve’s hair and touching Bucky’s cheek with her fingertips. “We’re here. We’re not going anywhere.”

“I mean,” Tony interrupted, “maybe the smell will drive us off, but I’m actually pretty sure that’s more me than any of the rest of you.” Steve could see the grin on Tony’s face as the man turned it towards him, still leaning it against Pepper’s shoulder. 

“I _could_ use a shave,” Bucky admitted thoughtfully. 

“And a four hour shower,” Steve teased, leaning back just the littlest bit more into his husband. 

Pepper stepped back, breaking the group hug, but gripped Steve and Bucky’s wrists with her long, firm, and strong fingers. Steve suddenly, desperately, wanted to sketch them, but he shelved it for later. There were far more important things ahead of him right now. 

Pepper stepped back towards their apartment, where both Tony and Pepper lived, and where Steve and Bucky had a semi-permanent room they’d only just moved a few items into before the shit hit the fan. 

Tony pressed his hand to Pepper’s lower back, and brought the other up to her shoulder so that he could gently guide her as she walked backwards, pulling on Steve and Bucky’s hands. He looked at Steve and Bucky with that intense gaze of his, the one that Steve now knew meant he would fight for every last bit of what he wanted. 

Pepper had taught him that, apparently—not to let go of what he wanted because he thought he wasn’t a good man, that he wasn’t _good enough_ …

Steve stepped into Pepper’s pull at the same time as Bucky did, which caused her grip to slacken just enough to suit their purpose, and the two of them lifted the husband and wife into their arms. Tony practically _burrowed_ into Steve’s arms, while Pepper was lifting one eyebrow at Bucky—though she still seemed rather pleased as she gently placed her arms around Bucky’s neck.

 _Very_ pleased, and that pleased Steve. And Tony, if the soft look at his wife was any indication. “She deserves to be loved like this,” he murmured for Steve’s ears alone, looking Steve square in the eye.

It was such an odd statement, and yet it made perfect sense to him. He and Bucky had always known they were poly, and it looked like Tony was familiar with the feeling that sometimes overwhelmed Steve when taking in everything Bucky was—the thought that he wanted to share his feelings for Bucky with someone else who knew _exactly_ what it meant to love Bucky, because they loved him too. Someone who knew exactly what it meant to want to share that love with another, letting it bubble up within them until it made them squirm with the desire to touch and love and hold and care for them. To care for your loved one _with_ you, not instead of you, and relishing in the beauty of their love reflected.

Not everyone understood, or ever could.

But it looked like they’d found the perfect someones to share that special kind of love with.

It was odd, and yet it wasn’t. Not to him or Bucky. Not to Tony. And from the looks of it, not to Pepper either. Her fingers were combing through the mane of Bucky’s hair, which she’d pulled out of its messy bun while the man’s hands were busy with holding her.

Steve and Tony shared a small smile before Pepper lifted one hand and pointed—rather imperiously, and it made Steve flash a grin behind her back at Bucky (god, he looked so _happy_ , despite everything they’d endured the last… well, now eleven days)—in the direction of the bathroom. 

They could sort out the rest later, and there was so _much_ to sort out, but… well, in the words of Bucky, who’d whispered it into his ear two nights ago as they’d watched Tony and Pepper sleep wrapped around each other…

_They’re worth it._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate every single one of you, even if it always takes me forever to tell you so individually. But ily all. :)
> 
> As we all know, there's lots of craziness in the world right now. It's given a lot of authors extra time to write, but it's also thrown others like me off track. So for those of you waiting for Cross 27... hah, well, it's on its third rewrite. Just can't get it right, but I think I may be onto something... I have a few other projects to do (let's see... one Steve x Tasha Stark AU, two Stuckony AU, and a Knives Out fic), but they're getting there. Thanks so much for hanging in there with me! <3


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